USA > Wisconsin > Buffalo County > History of Buffalo County, Wisconsin > Part 52
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Fountain City also has a weil regulated fire department. It is also the headquarters of an association for improvement of the breed of horses. This ought to have been mentioned in the chapter on Agriculture, but I am not informed about particulars.
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There is one trait in the character of the people of Fountain City, which I can not leave unnoticed. Of course, the population, though mostly German by nationality, is composed of many ele- ments, which do no more harmonize naturally than in other places, nor, for aught I know, any less. But whenever any im- provements or new new enterprises are suggested it is remarkable how soon the means are found. One cause of this, I think, lies in the fact that every one is requested to contribute and to be- come a shareholder, even those who could contribute only their labor, so that all become interested.
Socially the people of Fountain City also seem to agree very well, notwithstanding the presence of differences in politics, reli- gion, and other accidental trifles, which are so often the cause of dissensions everywhere.
TOWN OF GILMANTON.
The territory of the Town of Gilmanton is described as Town- ship 23, Range 11. It consists of the western parts of Elk Creek Valley, part of the Beef River Valley and the Gilman Valley. Tributary to the Elk Creek is Hadley Creek, which comes from the north-east part of the town and flows through a valley whosc slope on the east side is gradual but rather abrupt on the west- side. Erskine Creek comes from the southern part and flows nearly north, Bailey Creek and O'Hara Creek flow in about the same direction, all these fall into Elk Creek below the mill-pond. The surface of the town is very variable. Some steep bluffs are in the southern part, hills in the central part, and bluffs again in the northern part of which a spur comes down towards Elk Creek, terminating in Mount Toni. The most prominent peak of the southern range, nearly detached from it, is Eagle Peak. Some of the soil is light and even sandy especially south of Elk Creek. On the westside of Beef River the country is rolling, rising, how- ever, towards the north into steep bluffs. Almost all of the land is heavy clay loam and well suited for agricultural purposes. Gil- manton is bounded by Mondovi on the North, Dover on the East, Alma and Lincoln on the South and Modena on the West. The valleys must have been very inviting to settlers, yet at a time, when Alma and Fountain City were already laid out, there was yet not a single settler in this town. The late Lyman J. Claflin- more than once related in my presence, how he and one or two
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companions, one of them Ezra Hutchinson, came from Beef River Station, now probably Osseo, went down Beef River Valley pros- pecting for settlement, how they came down to the very spot where Mr. Claflin afterwards settled, without having had any- thing to eat for two days and finally managed to get to Alma, and how glad they were to get under the hospitable roof and to the well supplied table of John R. Hurlburt, who had just begun to keep tavern in the old Alma, afterwards American, House. Mr. Claflin went to La Crosse and borrowed a compass, for which he paid one dollar per day, returning it after a use of five days. This was in June 1855 at which time he and Ezra Hutchinson entered the first land on the eastside of Beef River.
It appears that soon after Samuel Gilman and his four sons, Franklin, Edson, Andrew J. and Daniel, took up land in Sections . 8 and 17 in the so-called Gilman valley, building cabins and cut- ting hay for their stock. Philo Englesby settled in the fall of 1855 in what is called now Allen's Valley. In spring 1856 came with Mr. Claflin, who had returned East, the Verinonters, Wm. Loomis, Dan Loomis, Abijah P. Loomis, Ezra Hutchinson, W. H. H. Ami- don, M. E. Ferry and T. C. Bailey, forming the so-called "Loomis Settlement," on the east side of Beef River. Chauncey W. Rath- bun came about the same time, also Frank Hatschboth, settling in Gilman Valley. In June of that year the first child was born, Wealthy J. Rathbun, who grew up a lovely girl, and was married and died in the valley.
The first religious meeting was held by Rev. B. F. Morse at the house of Mr. Rathbun. For schools see chapter on Educa- tion. The first marriage was J. A. Bush and Almira Hatch in Spring 1857. Mrs. Bush died about two years after her marriage, and this was the first death. The town of Elk Creek was set off July 20, 1857, and then embraced Dover, Gilmanton, and the east half of Modena. The name was changed to Gilmanton May 25, 1858, and the part in Range 12 taken off Nov. 12, 1861. The mill was built 1861, for which see Manufactures, where some other re- marks will be found. In 1862 the first volunteers went from Gil- manton, and the big scare on account of the Sioux outbreak in Minnesota led to the formation of a company of homeguards, Capt. Lyman Stiles, Ltnt. Judson Hutchinson. The scare soon subsided.
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The post-office was established in 1858, with Wm. Loomis as the first postmaster. He kept the office at his house in Sect. 22, until 1865. It was then removed to the house of R. E. Fuller, who was postmaster until May 15th, 1866. Since then J. W. Howard is postmaster, and keeps the office as an annex to his store.
There is a plat of what is usually called the "village" of Gil- manton, formerly called "Mann's Mill." This plat was recorded in Vol. 33, page 247, June 9th, 1876. In this village we find the mill, three common country stores, one drugstore, two blacksmith shops, one tavern, the school house and a church.
The population of Gilmanton is American, some Scotch, and quite a few Germans.
TOWN OF GLENCOE.
The territory of Glencoe consists of Township 21, Range 10, and of Town 20, Range 10, the following sections 2, 3, 8, 9 and 10 on Trempealeau River fractional, 4, 5, 6 and 7 entire. The surface is very broken in all parts of the town, and contains a number of valleys of which the Muir Valley in the Eastern part has a length of over six miles with a number of side valleys in all of which we find streams. Muir Creek flows South into Trempealeau River. Cowie's Creek takes the same course, west of the former. Eagle Creek has its source in Sec. 31 and flows through Cross and Mil- ton into the Waumandee Creek. Irish Creek has its sources in Sec. 17 and flows West into Waumandee Creek. The slopes are everywhere steep, but on the top of the bluffs there is a rolling woodland, which has in many places been cleared and is very well adapted for agriculture. The land in the valleys is rich and there is but very little poor farming land in the town. The town is bounded on the east by the town of Arcadia in Trempealeau Co., on the west by Waumandee and Cross, on the North by Montana, and on the south by Cross. The town was at first known as Cold Springs and was organized as such June 8th, 1857, but the name was changed to Glencoe in 1859, at the suggestion of Hon. Geo. Cowie who set- tled in 1855 and still resides there. Until the organization of the town of Montana Township 22, Range 10, also belonged to Glencoe. The first settler was Patrick Mulcare who came in 1854; he is now dead. In 1855 George Cowie and Jas. Faulds, sen., arrived. Henry Wirtemberger also arrived in 1855. James Faulds jr., William Muir, David J. Davis and J. P. Fernholz came and com-
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menced improvements in 1856, Thomas Courtney and Andrew Cashel in 1857. The first marriage was that of William Ashton to Elizabeth Faulds solemnized by Andrew Baertsch, then a Justice of the Peace. The first child born in the town was George M., sor of George and Margareth Cowie. This was Oct. 10, 1856. The first death was that of Mrs. Cashel, wife of Andrew Cashel. The town of Glencoe is, as remarked in the chapter on Transportation remarkable for its graded roads, of which it had the first, and ha; now the most of any town in the county. At first the trade o Glencoe was mostly with Fountain City, but since the building o the Green Bay railroad Arcadia affords the most convenien market. A postoffice was established in the town of Glencoe Sept 4th, 1858 with Geo. Cowie as postmaster, which office he held unti Nov. 1885, when he resigned. After some time of interruption J. J. Smith was appointed, who on his removal from town left i to his brother Phil. Smith.
The population of Glencoe consists of Germans, Scotch and Irish. In regard to schools and churches see the chapters on Ed ucation and Religion.
TOWN OF LINCOLN.
The following is a description of the land in the town:
Township 21: Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, W } and N } and SW } 0 NE & of 8, and N } of NW } of 18 of Range 11.
Sections 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12 and 13 of Range 12.
Township 22: Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, S 3 7, S 2 and NE + 8, 9, W and W 3 of E 2 and NE } of NE } of 10, N } of NW + 11, SW of SW # 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, NW } of NW } of SW 23, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, N } and SW 4 of NW # 34 o Range 11.
Sections 25 and 36 and some forties in 24.
A mistake about some forties is possible, since I did not kee] informed precisely as to any alterations except the last. The town of Lincoln is of such an irregular shape, as to occasion question about it, but those who have seen the country, readily understand that it was intended to give the town the command and care c such roads as by necessity the inhabitants have to travel in goin to their customary markets and about other business. The town is bounded on the north by Gilmanton and Alma, on the west b:
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Alma and Belvidere, on the south by Belvidere and Waumandée, on the cast by Waumandee and Montana.
The town of Lincoln was the last town organized in this county up to present time. It was set off at the annual meeting of the county board in 1871 and named for President Lincoln at the sug- gestion of Charles Jahn. It consists of parts of Waumandee, Belvidere and Montana, the two sections, 25 and 36 in Range 12 having also at the time belonged to Waumandce. The surface is hilly and the principal part of the town consists of the main and tributary valleys of Little Waumandee Creek, which are described in Topography. The first settlers within the limits of the present town were Henry Mueller and Mathias Profitlich who came in 1853. The following year Jacob and Anton Fink, Andrew Hueller and Franz Theodore Schaaf came directly from the Rhine country. In 1855 Franz Jahn, Gustav A. Kretschmer, Franz Ginzkey, Fred Schmidt, Christian Schoepp, sr., and Fred Schaub arrived. Fred Zirzow, Joseph Hohaus, Jacob Braem, Joseph, Charles and Wil- liam Jahn, and George Goll came in 1856.
The first marriage was that of Gustav A. Kretschmer to Sophia Ginzkey, who were married at Fountain City by Marvin Pierce, then County Judge. The first birth was a son of Franz and Theresa Jahn. The first death was that of Jacob Fink, who was killed by a falling tree on his farm.
There were once two postoffices in the town, one at the Lin- coln House, kept by G. A. Kretschmer, and one in the upper part of the valley, kept by Henry Haunschild. Both are now aban- doncd. The town contains [two taverns, one shoeshop and one blacksmithshop. In regard to schools, churches and the mill see the chapters on Education, Religion and Manufactures. The pop- ulation is at present entirely German, with the exception of John Haigh, the first, and also the present chairman. He is an Eng- lishman.
TOWN OF MAXVILLE.
The territory of the town of Maxville consists of Township 24, Range 13 and of that part of Township 24, Range 14 which lies on the east side of Chippewa River. The course of Chippewa River and Beef Slough has been so extensively described, that a repeti- tion would only be tedious. The town also contained some times the much discussed and disputed " Mile Strip " that is the north-
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ern tier of Sections in Township 23, Ranges 13 and 14, about 8 square miles, but this bone of contention has been at the last meet- ing of the county board of supervisors returned to the town of Nelson, and may be left out of the description of this town. The surface is hilly in range 13, the few sections on the prairie do not materially change the character. Range 14 consists largely of swampland or overflowed lands and some meadows. The prairie is sandy as is also the main part of Spring Creek Valley. Bluff- lands, and side valleys are usually of a good quality of soil.
The settlement of Maxville was not very early in the history of this county, although the prairies formerly had a very inviting appearance. In 1855 William Bean, John Lafferty, Geo. King, Abbott Reed, Michael Aaron and Rev. Edward Doughty came to settle .. The following year Barney McDonough, William Allison, Jas. Mair and Herman Fuller came, but the most promising ar- rival was that of Coleman and Maxvell in 1857, with cattle, horses and household goods. They were deceived by the blooming ap- pearance of the prairie, its easy cultivation, and for a few years, abundant crops. The town of Bloomington was set off from Bear Creek at the same time with Nelson July 20, 1857 and organized at the next town election. At the annual meeting of the county- board in 1858 the name was changed to Maxville as a compliment to Mr. Maxvell. Joe Scafe was then living at the place now owned and occupied by Barney McDonough. Some pretended to him that they could not spell the name of the town. Joc was ready for them. It is spelled with a hem, a hai, a hex, a ve, a hi, a double hell and he. He was English, you know! He lives now in Missouri. After a while the prairie was exhausted, and Cole- man and a number of others left in course of time, but in about the same measure as the prairie became deserted, the bluffs be- came cleared and cultivated. Barney McDonough and some of Wm. Allison's family are still residents. Of old settlers I may mention Johnson, Yarrington, Jas. B. Green and others, also J. B. Mace, Morrris Powers, the Carrolls in Mosquito Hollow on the other side of the bluffs etc. Some few remain, others have taken the places of those who left. There was once a postoffice on the prairie, near the schoolhouse of District No. 1, and once there also was a good country store. Both are things of the past. The pop- lation is American and Irish, The northern part of the town is
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not very far from Durand, Pepin Co., and does its trading there, where they also have their postoffice. The southern end is adja- cent to Little Bear Creek, and tradcs at Misha Mokwa, Nelson and some times at Wabasha. .
TOWN OF MILTON.
The original town of Milton was laid out July 20, 1857, and was much larger than the present one. In May 1858 the name was changed into Eagle Mills, a cheap advertisement of Fetter's and Mehrmann's mill, or perhaps because this mill and the dam necessary for the mill, and at the same time a highway, caused so much noise and contention. This con tant drain on the county treasury and consequent dissatisfaction finally resulted in the vacation and distribution of the town of Eagle Mills, in which the Town of Waumandee received the northern part, that of Buffalo the remainder. All this is, however, sufficiently explained in the chapter on Organization. When the village of Fountain City was incorporated the town of Milton was reorganized, embracing, how- ever, only those parts which had fallen to Buffalo in the distribu- tion above mentioned. These are described as follows:
Range 11: Sections 4, 5, 6, fract. parts of 7 and 8, also N } of NE} 8, NW & of NW } 9, of Township 19.
Sections S ≥ 16, S } 17, S } 18, 19, 20, 21, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33 of Township 20.
Range 12: Sections 1, 2 and 12 all fractional of Township 19.
Sections S ≥ 13, S } 14, fiact. 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, fract. 27, fr. 28, fr. 33, fr. 34, fr. 35 and fr. 36 of Township 20.
The western part is level and swampy, the soil sand with a shallow layer of arable earth, the eastern and southern part is hilly and contains the lower parts of the valleys of the Wauman- dee Creek and of Eagle Creek, containing a notable portion of swampy meadows, but good soil on the slopes and on top of the bluffs. Adam Weber, one of the pioneers, settled finally in 1853 at the entrance of Eagle Creck Valley, Michael Obermeier in the same year north of him. Soon after and before 1856, Benedict Haney, Henry Kessler, sen., Jacob Blum, Scbastian Klett and Ludwig Moehlenpah came. The brothers Kammueller must have been among the carlier settlers. Carl Rieck and family came Oct. 1855 and so the town filled up. The first election in the original town was held in 1858 in the house of Fred. Binder, resulting in
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election of Ferd. Fetter for chairman and Fred. Binder for clerk. There never was a postoffice in this town. Regarding the mill, see chapter on Manufactures, regarding first school see Education. The population of Milton is all German.
TOWN OF MODENA. .
The description of the Town of Modena is Township 23 of Range 12. The surface is hilly with the exception of some small parts in the western boundary line. The same parts are also sandy, while valleys as well as the surface of the bluffs consist of excellent agricultural lands. The town was set off at the annual meeting of the county board in 1861 and organized next spring. The land had previously belonged to two adjoining towns, the east. half to Gilmanton, the west half to Nelson, which now are situated as described. On the north is Canton, on the south Alma. The settlement of this town was somewhat delayed in comparison with adjacent towns and the first was made by Wm. Odell sr., and his sons, David White and Wm. Odell jr., in 1858. The following year J.W. Mckay settled, Fred. Sisson, and R. P. Goddard came in 1860, David Lamphers, Thomas Shane, probably Orlando Brown and others came in 1861 or settled in Brown's Valley at that time. But the great influx of population was about and after the pas- sage of the homestead aet, which was taken advantage of by differ- ent people, especially by Norwegians in the western half of the town. A postoffice was established in 1863, and was kept on what is called the Carpenter place, then belonging to Benjamin F. Babcock, the first postmaster. The office was since that time held by B. F. Babcock, O. Brown, E. P. Sweet, W. H. Dunham, L. Hanan, E. J. Carpenter, B. F. Babcock again, Miss M. Babcock, M. N. Goddard, Chas. Ducklow and now is held by N. J. Canar at his house.
There is something like a village in Section 23, not, of course, incorporated, nor regularly laid out, containing stores, schoolhouse, two blacksmithshops, the mill etc. and also the postoffice. The plat is not recorded, but is in the Atlas. There is another post- office in this town called Urne and situated on Section 6 which was established 1872 for theaccommodation of the people of the upper valleys of Little Bear Creek. The postmasters of that office are named in the table in the chapter on transportation. With regard to first school, the mill, religious societies etc. see the pro-
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per chapters. The population of the town consists of a majority of Norwegians, a considerable number of Americans and some Germans. The trade of this town is yet largely with Alma to which place the road is mostly level.
TOWN OF MONDOVI.
The territory of the town of Mondovi is Township 24 of Range 11. It is bounded on the north by the town of Albany in Pepin Co., on the east by Naples, on the south by Gilmanton and on the west by Canton. Beef River flows through Section 13 in a western, through Section 14 in southwestern and through other sections in a generally almost southern direction. The northern part is comparatively level and adjoins the valley of Big Bear Creek. From the hills of this plain and those in the town of Albany flow some streams which form what has been named Far- rington's Creek. From the heights in the southern part of the town Dillon's Creek flows toward Beef River. The soil in the corner between this latter creek and the river is largely sandy up to the foot of the hills and there is some sandy land west of the village near the river, but otherwise the land is of as good quality as in most towns. The southwestern part of the town is very hilly, with many valleys between the bluffs. The original town of Naples, of which Mondovi is the western part was set off in the shape it had for so long a time on the 20th day of March 1857, and in 1881 at the annual meeting of the county board the separation of the two towns into Mondovi and Naples was resolved upon.
The first settlers in this town came in 1855 and were H. P. L. D. and P. Farrington, Wm. Van Waters, Thos. Glasspool and Harvey Brown. Rev. B. F. Morse came in 1856. Luther Eager and family came the same year, also John Callahan. At the first election Orlando Brown was chosen chairman, Harvey Brown town clerk, J. W. Bump treasurer and L. D. Farrington assessor. It must be remembered that at this election, and only this, the town of Naples consisted of Townships 23 and 24 Ranges 10 and 11 and that Hon. O. Brown then lived in Township 23 R. 11. There were only 19 votes at this election, which does not seem to indicate a very dense population for such a large town. The first marriage was that of Mr. and Mrs. Billings and the knot was tied
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by Rev. B. F. Morse in a shanty belonging to John Callahan. The first child was born in 1856; his name is John Gifford.
The village of Mondovi is laid out about the corner of Sec. 11, 12, 13 and 14 and the plat recorded in Vol. 4, page 560, May 17, 1859. It is situated upon a level plateau, perhaps fifty feet above the surface of Beef River. It has a very handsome situation and contains numerous stores, two hotels, three churches, a handsome schoolbuilding, two mills, one newspaper etc. Of the churches I have given a lengthy history in the chapter on Religion; the mills are mentioned in the chapter on Manufactures. The village has, according to the census of 1885, 340 inhabitants almost exclusively Americans from the New England and other eastern states. Somc years ago, especially before the construction of the Chippewa Valley railroad, the trade of this region was principally tributary to Alma, as present but very little of it, if any, goes in that direc- tion. Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls furnished always a very good market for cattle, hogs, eggs and butter and do so yet, though somewhat divided with Durand as a nearer shipping place.
The population outside of the village is mostly American in the neighborhood of the village, but largely Norwegian in the southwest part of the town. There are also a number of Irish families in different parts of the town.
TOWN OF MONTANA. ·
The town of Montana contains the following land:
Township 22, Range 10, with the possible exception of two forties in Section 6, adjacent to the town of Lincoln.
Township 22, Range 11: Sections E} SE} and SE} of NE & 10, 11 except N } of NW }, 12, 13, 14 except SW } of SW 4, 23 except NW } of NW } of SW &, 24, 25, 34 except N 2 and SW { of NW 4, 35 and 36.
The surface of the town is very rugged, but Bull's Valley and its continuation south wards along Waumandee Creek are wide, and most of Danuser's Valley is also wide, while the side valleys are located between steep bluffs, the northern range of which divides the Elk Creek Valley from Bull's Valley or rather the upper valley of Waumandee Creek. The eastside of the town be- longs to the basin of Trempealeau River. There are numerous swampy places along those creeks that cannot be used for any- thing but meadows. The land which admits of profitable tillage
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in the valleys as well as on the bluff, is of good quality. Mon- tana is bounded on the north by Dover, on the east by the town of Burnside in Trempealeau County, on the south by Glencoe and Waumandee, on the west by Lineoln. The first settlers within the limits of the town were in that part which is in Range 11 and formerly belonged to Waumandee. The families of Ulrich Von Wald and Christ Kindschy sen., were the first, and came in 1856, also August Helwig, and they settled on adjoining sections. They were for two years the only settlers. A Mr. Bull settled at the entrance of the valley which was named after him. His place was on the turn of the old state road westwards. John Bugbee was for a long time the only settler in Bull's Valley, but as he went to the war in 1861, I ean not say whether he settled before or after that. In Danuser's Valley Conrad Christ and Andrew Florin set- tled in 1858, Florian Schneller and Balthasar Carish in 1859. A Frederick Sehmidt also settled there, receiving from a small tamarack swamp near his residence the sobriquet of Tamarack Sehmidt. At the time when I first got acquainted with that neighborhood Florian Danuser, Thomas Gasser, J. G. Senty, George, John and Leonhard Flury, Martin Niek, Wm. Pieper, Carl Koenig, Gregory Ripley, Geo. Daseher, John Durisch, Christ. Veraguth and others were all living in Danuser Valley or some side vaileys, but Bugbee was still alone in Bull's Valley. Henry Wiemer, Carl Herzfeld and the brothers Henry and Ludwig Pabe were the first residents beyond the mountains. This was as late as 1866. So far the eastern part still belonged to Glencoe, the west- ern to Waumandee.
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